London Perrantes hit three first half three-pointers to lead Virginia to a comfortable First Round win over Hampton. (foxsports.com)

Virginia didn’t mess around this time. Two years ago in this same building, another #1 seed Virginia team struggled mightily with #16 Coastal Carolina — the Cavaliers trailed at the half before rallying for a skittish 11-point victory. For awhile today, things seemed headed down a similar path as Hampton came out strong and only trailed by two points with just under six minutes left in the first half. But Virginia went on a three-point shooting spree to close it out and took a comfortable 19-point lead into the locker room from which it never looked back.

As expected, Hampton really struggled to score. Before this game, the Pirates had only been held under 70 points 10 times this season. Against the Virginia pack line defense, Hampton mustered only a season-low 45 points and shot a frigid 30 percent from the floor. The Pirates were really cold from long-range, making only 3-of-19 from outside the arc. Hampton has made the NCAA Tournament in two consecutive years but don’t expect the Pirates to be back in the Big Dance next season. Coach Edward ‘Buck’ Joyner will lose five of his top six players from a team that claimed both the MEAC regular season and tournament titles.

At least for one game, Virginia regained its shooting touch. Maybe it was North Carolina’s defense or the rigors of a third tough game in three nights, but for whatever the reason, Virginia’s guards did not shoot well in last Saturday’s ACC Championship game. The jumpers were falling this afternoon as the Cavaliers went 12-of-25 from behind the arc. London Perrantes led the deep-ball barrage with four made threes, and four of his teammates hit two three-pointers each.

Star of the Game. Anthony Gill, Virginia. The senior forward helped the Cavaliers control the paint at both ends. Gill finished with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting while also grabbing seven boards and dishing out four assists.

Quotable.

“I’ve been a little under the weather the last few days.” – Virginia’s Tony Bennett, explaining why dehydration led to his sideline collapse just before halftime.

“Them hitting threes was the clutch thing for them.” – Hampton’s Quinton Chievous, when asked about the key to the Cavaliers’ win.

“I am the true point guard of the team.” – a joking Anthony Gill, on his career-best four assist performance.

Sights and Sounds. Late in the first half, Tony Bennett collapsed on the sideline and was taken into the locker room before the half was over. He returned to the bench after intermission and coached the rest of the game. Dehydration was the reason given for the incident. Let’s certainly hope that’s all it was.

What’s Next? Virginia moves on to face #9 seed Butler in Saturday’s Second Round. The winner of that game will earn a trip to the Midwest Regional next week in Chicago.